| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Reggae | |
| Gordon -- 03/11/2005, 08:29:32 -- #11849 | |
| I've just been trying to accompany myself singing the reggae tune "Johhny too bad" . (Verse: F / C / Bb / F /). I'm trying to follow the principle (learnt from previous posts) that "less is more" and it sounds OK - but far from great. Can anyone give any tips to trying to get a reggae groove ? Are there any recorded examples of a reggae groove being created by a solo piano that you could point me too ? | |
| sean8877 -- 03/11/2005, 09:43:55 -- #11851 | |
| I used to play in a reggae band and the basic idea is to play right hand chords on the off beat while the bass line usually starts on the one. It's easy when you have a bass player but probably a bit harder for solo piano (I don't know of any reggae solo piano recordings). I would just listen to a recording of "Johnny too bad" and figure out the bass line, play that with your left hand and keep a steady off beat rhythm playing chords in the right hand. Good luck with it! | |
| Seb -- 03/11/2005, 09:53:56 -- #11852 | |
| I would do exactly the same as sean said. And you should listen to some reggae records to get an idea of the bass grooves, listen to it permanently for a week and you should start to be able to figure out your won reggae bass lines. I recommend also listening to Below the Bassline, a recording by Ernest Ranglin (jamaican jazz guitarist). It's reggae standards played by a jazz quartet (piano/guitar/bass/drums). Great reggae groove!! The amazing Monty Alexander is playing the piano on the record. | |
| Scot -- 03/13/2005, 12:02:01 -- #11895 | |
| Go play with a reggae band, that's the only way to really learn reggae because it's very hard to hear the reggae "bubble" on recordings. Sometimes you don't know if it's the guitar playing or the organ. I played in a reggae band for two years... lucky I have strong ears because all the tunes, all the feels, all the bubble rhythms were given to me either by the lead guitar showing me on the keyboard what to do or just trying to pick up what he did on the guitar. I'm sitting here trying to work out the rhythm, but I can't really do it. It's called the "Bubble" because it's kind of all encompassing. If you want to hear some GREAT jazz reggae, Monty Alexander put out a CD that is all Bob Marley music. You can't get a better example of reggae jazz than that. http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1130102&style=music&Bab=E&frm=lk_learnjazz | |
| Gordon -- 03/13/2005, 16:31:20 -- #11900 | |
| Thanks a lot - I look forward to hearing both the above mentioned albums | |
| MoJazz -- 03/14/2005, 09:45:32 -- #11912 | |
| Howard Jones recorded a live solo concert in the 90's and has a couple of reggae songs with only the piano and vocal. He plays the chords and bass lines with the genuine *reggae* feel. FWIW, he was a quite popular New Wave British pop/rock star who was known for his synth-pop oriented songs in the 80's. He got fed up with all the gear and performed many solo concerts with piano and voice in the 90's. Dunno what's he doing today. This CD is out of print, but here is info about it.http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47C1BDF46A97620D7863A41C5B16AF704DF4DDA971F28455A92B63E45915420B90EA39992E8B676AB78ABE02CA45A0A9FC3E454FAD662352DFC93&sql=10:65320r8at48n | |
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